Presents for Just turned 10 yr Old DD with ASD

DD has asd (high functioning) and will be turning ten shortly. Desperately need ideas for Christmas and birthday. She doesn’t really play with toys and she won’t use any stationary as she doesn’t like to ‘ruin’ things. She’s quite tactile (likes to squeeze clay rather than build anything with it for example) so I was thinking slime but not sure where to start on ingredients? Maybe one of those watches you can make calls off and track them if anyone has any recommendations?

My son has ASD and we got a multicoloured disco ball type light for his room. He loves it and finds it really relaxing. If she enjoyed tactile things then what about a furry/fluffy throw or cushion for her bed? Does she have any special interests? Theraputty is a type of clay with varying resistance and can have different smells etc too for extra sensory input.

how about a subscription to something like GoAnimateforSchools ? It's fun making the animations, and it also has a messaging function, so you'd be the "teacher" on it, and she could send you messages as a words-but-non-verbal way of keeping in touch, without you letting her loose on email/facebook/mobile phone ?

Fiddle toys? (you probably already have a million fidget spinners...)

Walkie talkies?

one of those magnetic theatres? They do fairy tale ones which can be quite fun because the script is already inherent in the kit you've been sent.

What about one of those toys that 1980s businessmen used to have on their desks, with metal balls on strings, and you release one and it bumps into all the others, like a wave going along? They are really mesmerising to watch - really calming.

I bet she'd love a microscope! My ASD son will be 10 in April - think I might get him one too. I expect she's already got hama beads but they're great if she's not too old for them. What about a cupcake making kit? My son loves following recipes, got a Roald Dahl 'Gobswitchy Grub' cupcake set for his last birthday which he loved. Does she like computer games? We got XBox kinect adventures and Wii sport recently (already have 2nd hand consoles for both) - and they were a big success. Esp if she has siblings. My son has also asked for a 'robo live pet snake' (haven't yet looked it up, he must have seen an advert) and a stunt scooter. And some daft dressing up outfits (Captain America??) and a blue scarf. My daughter had a fluffy light up cushion last year, as a PP suggested, she loves it! Good luck!

These are all brilliant suggestions thank you! Love the idea of the 80s businessman toy, I think she would love that- I also remember those ones with silver pins you put your hand on and it made the impression of your hand, I think she would love that too. I will have to look out for a light up fluffy pillow too, she has to have a light on at night so that would be ideal. Theraputty sounds brilliant- I hadn’t heard of that, it would be right up her street. She doesn’t have any particular interests as such which is why I find buying for her so difficult- she wouldn’t do dress up or any imaginative play sadly, her obsessions is tv series, she will watch episodes over and over, and would happily be stuck to a screen permanently if we let her. I hadn’t heard of goanimate either- can that be done on a laptop or is it on a tablet?Also cupcake kit would be great- she loves yummy nummy kits and cooking. She has a microscope and walkie talkies, the latter have been fairly well used which has reminded me she quite likes spy stuff so that might be another thing to look into!

On the putty side someone recommended this crazy Aaron's putty on another thread. It looks good and there are all different sorts including magnetic, glow in dark etc. My daughter who has similar profile likes those sequins that have two separate messages depending on how you rub them either t shirt or cushion. She also currently loves the Beano. On the animation side the stickbots are good. She has also suddenly got into Morph and there is an animation kit for him which she is getting. Watching for other ideas.

Brilliant thank you. Will have a look at those putty’s. I think she would really like a selection of those. I would love her to get into animation so that sounds really good too, I think that could interest her a lot. Also the sequin pillow- she has a few of those tops but no pillows so that would be something she would love!

I've got a 10 year old with ASD, he just loves teddies, currently pandas. He currently likes money but likes all his presents to be on the same theme, once I got 50-50 and he was only interested in the 50 percent that were Olaf so had to swap other 50 percent for Olafs.

You can get dark dens and put lots of light up things and soft things inside, my DS is obsessed with fleece (I've just had to order a 2nd fleece jacket so I can get the first one in the wash, he's had it on 24/7 for a week).

There are quite a few autism toy shops online which have lots of interesting toys. Remember one with a vibrating banana which DS thought was hilarious.

My son is 13 and has ASD. I got him one of those sequin cushions from Dunelm Mills. I think it was £20. He loves it. Thank you for all these suggestions. I'm struggling this year with what to get him for Christmas and his birthday in November!

She quite liked the CoderDoJo programming system (free to download I think).

She has a range of fluffy and fleecy and harder cotton cushions in her room - a mix of textures seems to be what she wants. And soft fluffy blankets to snuggle under both in the sitting room and her own room.

She also still has a load of ducks and boats and her original stacking cups for the bath (baths are sometimes much needed as a calm quiet place to restore herself) - we replace the ducks etc every couple of years (the insides get slimey - yuck!) and Santa has brought a few of those sets. I know I got some in Tiger, but I have also gone to JoJoMamanBebe for baby squirty toys too. And bubbles, things like bath bombs from Lush and nice smelling shower gels (lavender ones are great) are also handy stocking fillers.

She really loved the notion of those aliens in a egg who are surrounded in slime, and there was no way I was getting one - it was great when Santa brought it when she was 10. Recently, as that one had dried out, her play therapist had suggested using the alien to throw at the wall as a safe "venting" and "using up energy indoors" mechanism, just wash off the goo (so we've bought a new one).

YYY to the various putty suggestions.

Also, she quite likes different lighting. She has battery operated sets strung around her bed for low level coloured lights, and a small one that changes colour on the other side of her room. I keep meaning to get her a lava lamp style one, as she does like watching those at times, or a bubble lamp. Specialist shops, like Learning Space can give great ideas for sensory items, but you could get lots in places like Ikea or general toy, DIY, lighting or design/décor type shops too.

Love the idea of a lava lamp too or different lights. She won’t have bubbles or anything in the bath but she would have a nice shower gel so I will look into some for a stocking filler, preferably a Sleep scent one to relax her before bed!

The thinking putty mentioned above was a hit with both mine. Be warned however, when left alone it turns back to liquid resulting it lots of mess. For this reason ours is now only got out when I am around to check it goes back in the tin.